Provocative Rant

Many right wing leaders have often been indulging in rant, which is to play up to the galleries. The vote bank politics remains at the centre of rhetoric. The exhibitionism came again to the fore as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) from Haryana D P Vats said that the “stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir should be shot dead.” The comments came in the backdrop of the decision of the state government and a recent announcement by Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, “ to withdraw cases against stone-pelters.” Singh who was on a two-day visit to state recently to review the security scenario made the announcement in this regard, while a decision was earlier taken by chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, in February this year to grant amnesty to stone throwers. Vats is not the only politician who has meddled in the affairs of Kashmir and gave inflammatory statement, earlier former Industries Minister, Chander Prakash Ganga, also sparked off a controversy by stating that shooting “stone-pelters and traitors” is the only way to bring about peace in Kashmir. Even the acts which have been deemed to be criminal in nature like the tying of a Kashmiri youth to the bonnet of an army vehicle and then parading him on different streets have been glamorised for vote bank politics and as populist measure. An online shopping site run by Delhi BJP spokesman Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga’s company, Bagga Fashions, earlier sparked off a row by selling the T-shirts with caption “Indian army … saving your a** whether you like it or not.” The image of a human shield victim was emblazoned on the T-shirts to hail the move by Indian army Major, Nitin Leetul Gogoi, to tie him to his jeep on April 9 last year when the elections were held on Srinagar parliamentary seat. The trend of fishing into the troubled waters has also caught in with the Bollywood. A latest flick starring Tiger Shroff Baaghi 2, shows army officer Ranveer Pratap Singh ( the role is played by Tiger Shroff) tying a youth to the front of his jeep to protect himself from an angry crowd. The insinuations and virulent campaigns to denigrate the Kashmiris has only drawn the wedge between communities. The BJP has an avowed policy to polarise the communities to garner votes, but for the Bollywood to toe the line is unacceptable. A good sense should prevail on the politicians and celebrities and men with good social standing so that the atmosphere of communal brotherhood is not vitiated.